Tracing the changing value of higher education through English prospectuses 1976–2013

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis study investigates the changing discourses of the value of degrees in prospectuses between 1976 and 2013, chosen due to the massification of higher education and use of the particular marketing tool of prospectuses. This research analysed the messages in prospectuses through the period in four English higher education institutions of different status, to consider how these changes reveal the communication of the value of the idea of a degree in the period. Four topics of the value of a degree were identified as part of the wider literature review: the value of a degree for traditional liberal purposes; as a marker of prestige of the awarding institution; for graduate employment; and for employability. The research finds that while significant change in each institution’s construction of degree value is reflected in the prospectuses, the adjustments in discourse between each set of prospectuses are incremental, and not necessarily possible to link causally to specific governmental policies. Over the period, a re-calibration of the idea of the value of a degree can be tracked towards employment purposes and away from the traditional liberal idea of higher education. However, a review of the most recent marketing materials indicates some shift back towards a re-valuation of traditional liberal values. The analysis contributes a historical perspective on how higher education can suggest markers to understand shifts in the value of a degree, and also draws on literatures that use institutional materials to examine public discourses of value.